WND FREEDOM INDEX POLLWorldNetDaily Exclusive

Confidence in American liberty plunging

Those who believe president brought big increase changing minds

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially.

Editor’s note: This is another in a series of monthly “Freedom Index” polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

A new poll reveals that between June and this month the number of Americans who believe President Obama brought with him into office a large increase in personal freedom has plummeted by nearly 9 percentage points, while the number of those who perceive a big decrease in personal freedom continues to rise.

The result is that the WND Freedom Index, derived from the poll results, has fallen from June’s 57.6 to 53.2 in July on a 100-point scale. The index is a monthly measure of how Americans feel about what might be happening to a basketful of liberties.

According to pollster Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies, the drop comes mostly because people are finding out that freedoms under Obama have decreased overall.

“Compared to the inaugural WND Freedom Index released in June, those who said freedoms had increased under Obama had dropped 9 percent, from 41 percent last month to 32 percent this month,” he reported.

“Most of those people have slipped into what could be characterized as a ‘neutral’ position as they wait to see what happens next,” he said.

He said the events over the last few weeks have been striking.

“The American economy continues to stumble with very few bright spots that indicate a long–term recovery is on the horizon. Supreme Court nominee [Sonia] Sotomayor has breezed through Senate confirmation hearing with nary a scratch from timid Republicans. The Obama administration, having pushed two major U.S. automakers through bankruptcy proceedings at breakneck speed, has turned its eyes toward a national health care reform plan,” he said.

“As you would expect, there is a partisan divide on the question about Obama’s impact on freedoms of U.S. citizens, with 44 percent of Democrats saying there has been a significant increase in freedom, and 63 percent of Republicans saying there has been a big decrease. But even among Democrats, Obama’s support on this question is slipping significantly – last month 55 percent of Democrats felt he had boosted freedoms in a big way, which means he has lost about 12 percent backing among his own party members in the last five weeks,” he continued in his analysis.

A few more Republicans this month said they felt freedoms had decreased, as their numbers grew from 60 percent to 63 percent on the question, he said.

The poll revealed that independents also are changing their minds on Obama and freedom. Six percent fewer gave him credit for increasing freedoms, Wenzel said.

“Americans tend to give new presidents the benefit of the doubt, even if they don’t agree with them politically, largely because the actual performance of presidents seldom has a direct effect on the day-to-day lives of the everyday citizenry. But the Obama administration’s move to remake the national health care system, along with stories about the potential for increased taxes during a very difficult economy, is striking right at the heart – and budgets – of many families,” the analysis said.

“This brewing battle is likely to yield little in the way of warm and fuzzy feelings,” Wenzel said.

While 31 percent of respondents in June perceived a big increase in personal freedom under Obama’s leadership, that figure fell to only 23.4 percent in July. At the same time, those who see a big decrease in personal freedom during Obama’s tenure rose from 37 percent to 38.9 percent.

The new poll also showed one in four respondents has a great deal of fear of punishment for speaking their minds in America; one in five fear retribution for the people with whom they associate; nearly half say the government’s use of cameras, scanners and electronic records is very intrusive; and one in 10 fear attending a local rally for a cause in which they believe because of the threat of government investigation.

Alarmingly, more than one in 10 say they have great fear they will be punished, ostracized, investigated or penalized for choosing their own manner of worship.

The WND/Wenzel survey was conducted July 12-17 using an automated telephone technology calling a random sampling of listed telephone numbers nationwide. The survey included 16 questions and carries a 95 percent confidence interval. It included 807 adult respondents. It carries a margin of error of +/– 3.4 percentage points.

Though Obama has succeeded already in passing some agenda items through Congress, opponents see his falling approval ratings as evidence he is weakened, if not in trouble politically. Asked whether they felt free to speak up or attend a rally if there were a cause about which they felt strongly, Republican response increased substantially. Last month, 55 percent said they would feel free to speak up, but this month, 62 percent said they would voice their opinions or attend a rally.

The analysis cited the even more dramatic results from a related question.

“Asked whether they would feel free to put a political or religious bumper sticker on their car or wear a button, 65 percent of Republicans said they would, compared to just 50 percent who said the same thing just five weeks ago. Clearly, these data show Republicans will not sit idly by and let Democrats bowl them over,” Wenzel said.

One of the purposes of the survey, part of a series of monthly polls, is to create a new “Freedom Index” from the data – one that can be updated monthly to track changes in American attitudes about personal liberties. The index can be interpreted as meaning that Americans believe they and their countrymen enjoy a little over half of the liberties promised in the U.S. Constitution. Not all constitutional freedoms were tested, so it is not an exhaustive measurement of how people feel the Constitution is holding up today. The survey, rather, is an indicator of some major themes on the subject of liberty.

Wenzel is president of Wenzel Strategies a public opinion research and media consulting company. Formerly associated with Zogby International, he spent 25 years as a news and political reporter for major metro dailies.